London, Oct 21 : Dogs can reduce stress in children with developmental disorders.

Researchers from Canada found specially-trained service dogs could significantly reduce anxiety levels in autistic children.

The study also found that buzzos could help develop their social skills, because autistic children struggle to understand other people's emotions and feelings.

It could provide a relatively simple solution to help affected children and their families cope with the challenging conditions, reports the Daily Mail.

Study author Sonia Lupien from the University of Montreal, Canada, said: "Our findings showed that the dogs had a clear impact on the children's stress hormone levels. I have not seen such a dramatic effect before."

To detect stress levels, Lupien and her team measured the amount of cortisol present in the saliva of 42 autistic children, according to the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology.

Cortisol is a hormone that is produced by the body in response to stress and is detectable in saliva. It peaks half-hour after waking up, known as the cortisol awakening response (CAR) and decreases throughout the day.

Lupien said: "We used it to determine the effect of service dogs on the children's stress levels by measuring it in three experimental conditions; prior to and during the introduction of a service dog to the family, and after the dog was removed."

Throughout the experiment, parents were asked to complete a questionnaire addressing the behaviours of their children before, during and after the introduction of the dog.

The findings were startling - and positive (IANS)